This invention relates to dictate/transcribe apparatus comprised of plural modules in which record/playback decks are provided and, more particularly, to such apparatus in which transcription devices (such as a foot pedal switch and a headset) are used to recover messages that had been recorded on any deck in any module, irrespective of the particular module to which those devices are connected.
Historically, dictation systems have been categorized as desk-top dictating machines, central dictation systems or portable dictating devices. A typical desk-top dictating machine is provided with a record medium, typically magnetic tape contained in a cartridge housing such as a standard cassette, a minicassette, a microcassette, or the recently introduced picocassette described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,443,827 and assigned to the assignee of the present invention. Connected to the desk-top dictating machine is a microphone unit having hand controls by which the use of the machine records dictation and controls movement of the record medium for the purpose of reviewing dictation or rapidly advancing the record medium to a desired location. Other conventional controls normally associated with the operation of a dictating machine also are provided.
After dictation is completed, transcription thereof requires the transfer of the record medium (or tape cassette) from the dictating machine to a transcribing machine which must be compatible with each other (e. g. they must accept the same type of record medium and operate at the same record/playback speed). Typically, the transcriptionist is provided with a headset and foot pedal switches which are connected either directly to the transcribing machine, or by so-called private wire connections, or by telephone connection.
As mentioned above, when using desk-top dictating/transcribing machines, the record medium must be removed from one machine and loaded into the other. If the respective machines are disposed at significantly spaced apart locations, such as in different offices or on different floors of an office building, this transfer of record media is a substantial inconvenience, results in inefficient office operation and may be accompanied by loss or misplacement of the record media. Even if the respective machines are located in close proximity, such as in adjacent offices, the requisite transfer of record media still may result in marked reduction in office operation efficiency.
Central dictation systems, as are commercially available, avoid several of the aforenoted disadvantages attendant desk-top dictating/transcribing machines. For example, in one type of central dictation system, a central recorder is provided with an endless loop of magnetic tape and includes a dictate site and a separate transcribe site, both of which may be operated simultaneously, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,934,774. While such a central recorder avoids the need to transfer a record medium from a dictating machine to a transcribing machine, such central recorders generally are most efficient when used with several dictators having access to the recorder from several dictate stations. Such a central dictation system is relatively expensive and might not be cost efficient for office operation in which the system is utilized by a relatively small number of dictators and transcriptionists.
Another type of central dictation system that might be utilized more efficiently in a "small office" environment, is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,071,857 and also in copending application Ser. No. 629,212. These systems are provided with a central recorder which operates to record dictation on individual tape cassettes, a used cassette being replaced by a fresh one to permit transcription of the used cassette and to allow further dictation on the new cassette. While such a central recorder having automatic cassette-changing capabilities reduces the amount of cassette manipulation that is attendant the aforementioned desk-top dictating/transcribing machines, there is, nonetheless, a need to load a used cassette into a separate transcribing machine to facilitate the transcription of recorded dictation.
Therefore, there is a need for an efficient dictation system for use in a so-called small office environment that minimizes the necessity to transfer a record medium from a dictating machine to a transcribing machine, yet is capable of being accessed by several dictators while allowing a transcriptionist to transcribe dictation that has been recorded by any of those dictators. Although prior art systems have been proposed in an attempt to address the small office environment, those systems do not offer sufficient flexibility. For example, one such prior art system contemplates the use of separate dictating and transcribing units mounted in side-by-side relation, with one unit being permanently designated the dictating unit and the other being permanently designated the transcribing unit. Transcription still requires the transfer of a record medium from the dictating unit to the transcribing unit. Furthermore, use of this system to record dictation simultaneously from more than one dictator on different record media, or cassettes, is difficult if not impossible.
The prior art also has proposed a "network" of separate dictating units, each of which may be separately connected to a respective dictator. To avoid record medium transfer for transcription, the usual transcribe apparatus comprised of foot pedal and headset is connected to the desired unit. Unfortunately, this requires the physical connection and disconnection of the transcribe apparatus from one unit to the next; which is time-consuming and annoying.